Mission Unstoppable

Introduction

Today, please open your Bible’s to the book of Acts because we are starting a new series!

Long book (28 chapters) so we’ll break it into “hunks” over several months (year?).

Acts is "early church history” of how God worked/works to build his church!

Written by Luke (doctor) and companion of Paul in early AD 60’s and second volume to Luke-Acts.

Why Acts now? Well…

We’re a culture filled with “narratives.” “Narrative” = the storyline we believe about the world and what’s happening that tells us how to interpret everything.

So media tell different narratives which is why we keep getting so many stories about the same topic (“cops are bad,” vaccines are really about Big Pharma just making money, etc.)

Same for Christians… the “cultural narrative/storyline” for many Christians right now is rather bleak! Some of that bleakness is reasonable!

Professing Christians are rapidly decreasing within the U.S. *Church attendance is below 50% for the first time in 70 years—and the last 20 years dropping by 20% w/ no signs of stopping!

Less influence in the culture is making us more and more feeling like outsiders.

Secularism is gaining a huge foothold in the culture. *Conflicting values to biblical Christianity. *Lawsuits against freedom of religion/conscience which frightens many Christians.

Scandals among leaders/churches have also led to a negative view of things.

This leads many Christians to a a negative “narrative/storyline” that can leave many Christians paralyzed by fear of the future and even Christianity’s survival.

Should we circle the wagons and wait for the story to pass? Retreat from the world and wait for Jesus to come back?

Two weeks ago on our trip out west, we hit a big storm in ND. We had to pull over for a while because I could not see well enough to drive! Should Christians just hunker down in these days?

NO! While are often tempted as Christians to just play defense, Acts reminds us that God’s work in the world is an unstoppable force! The gates of hell will not withstand The Kingdom of God’s progress!

So we begin this series in Acts today with some encouragement from Acts 1:1-11 where Jesus gives the apostles—and us—his marching orders with the mission of the church! [Read Acts 1:1-11 & Pray]

TS: What encouragement is there to not play defense within the world?

I. Jesus Is Still at Work in the World.

Acts 1:1–2 (ESV)

1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

The Gospel of Luke recorded all that Jesus began to do and teach.

What does that imply? Acts continues to record what Jesus was still doing within the world.

We live in the already/not yet stage of God’s kingdom. Inaugurated, Jesus reigns from heaven now, and he will return to finish the redemption of the world! (cf. Lk. 19:11-13).

Acts puts a heavy emphasis on how Jesus is still directing and building his church even while at the right hand of the Father in heaven!

Note how many times that Jesus (“Lord”) directs the direction of his church from heaven!

Title: “Acts of Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Spirit through the hands of the apostles.”

Remember what Jesus said about who would build his church?

Matthew 16:18 ESV

18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Jesus will build his church and it is a mission that is on the offensive! Hell’s gates will not prevail against the onslaught of it’s gospel-proclaiming work in the world.

Do you know what else? Jesus is also still at work in Marcell, Bigfork, Deer River, Bowstring, Balsam, etc. today as well!

Hear this well… serving the Lord is not so much “doing something great for God” as it is “joining Jesus in where he is already at work.”

John 15:5b (ESV)

...apart from me you can do nothing.

Our ideas and plans that come from our brains and our personal ambitions can often be quite contrary to Jesus’s plans for us—even if they are “good things”!

How many people have wanted to start a ministry, become a missionary/pastor, do some “great work” in the world…but it was their idea not Jesus’ idea!

The key then is to discern what is Jesus doing in my neighborhood, church, community, among those around me, and how does Jesus want to use me or us to accomplish his purposes?

That takes learning to discern the will and movements of God (which is another sermon).

But here’s the encouragement… Jesus is still at work in the world! *Don’t retreat. Don’t circle the wagons. Don’t be the Christian who gives into a defeatest attitude! Because Jesus is still working to build his church and the gates of hades will not prevail against it!

TS: But there is more encouragement in this passage as well...

II. Jesus Sends His Spirit to Empower Us.

I can only imagine how fearful and scared these early disciples must have been!

Jesus had been rejected and crucified by the most powerful forces in Israel. Were they next on the watch list with the Jewish authorities? Yes they were!

And Jesus gives them the mission to be his witnesses all over the empire yet most of them have probably never even travelled much outside of Israel!

So hostility from people wherever they went and a task that was way over their abilities! How could this scared group of ordinary disciples actually be Christ’s witnesses who could start the early church?

The answer is in v. 8…

Acts 1:8 (ESV)

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you...

These very ordinary men were able to see extraordinary things done through them because of the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit!

At Pentecost they would be metaphorically baptized with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit would indwell them and empower them to be bold witnesses for Christ!

John the Baptist’s baptism and Jesus’ baptism were of a very different in focus (v. 5).

John’s baptism was with water and symbolized the people repentance and coming of the Lord. People are still water baptized in Acts as a symbol of their repentance/forgiveness.

Jesus’ baptism was with the Spirit which brings about the indwelling of the Spirit and the empowering for service in God’s kingdom.

So Jesus wasn’t abandoning his disciples. Instead, he was sending the promised Holy Spirit to be his presence and empowerment indwelling them permanently!

And so important was the Spirit’s empowerment for ministry, Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Spirit!

Acts 1:4 (ESV)

4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father...

That’s the first order of business if they are going to serve Jesus in this new mission.

It’s this coming of the Spirit that transforms Peter from a Christ-denier before a little slave girl to being one who could be one of the boldest witnesses to thousands on the day of Pentecost!

It is GREAT encouragement that not only is Jesus still at work in the world but he actually sends his Spirit to indwell us!

And what this means is that we must live in conscious dependence upon the power of God’s Spirit in our lives! That’s when God gets the glory!

Who gets the glory for the success of the early church in Acts? ONLY GOD! Left to themselves this group of guys would have failed miserably just as Peter did when he denied Christ three times!

Zechariah 4:6 (ESV)

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

Martin Lloyd-Jones tells the story of an old Welsh preacher who was asked to preach at a convention in a small town. The congregation was assembled but the preacher still wasn’t there. Finally, they sent a maid back to the house to remind the preacher that it was time to preach! But then the maid came back to report that she could hear through the door that the preacher was talking to somebody and she didn’t want to disturb him.

The leader said, “That’s strange because there is no one at the house. Go back to the house and say, ‘We are running late and you must come now to preach.’”

The maid went back to the house and returned with the same report: “He is talking to somebody!” The leaders asked, “How do you know that?” The maid replied because I overheard the preacher say to the other person, “I will not go and preach to these people if you will not come with me!”

The wise leader—finally realizing that the man was in prayer—responded, “Oh, that’s okay then. We had better wait!”

But how do you know if you are relying upon the Spirit’s power or your own strength?

Many other people will not easily be able to tell whether your self-reliant or Spirit-reliant.

You can’t always trust results as some of God’s people did God’s work with little visible, immediate results—only fully to be seen in eternity.

Two questions asked in prayer help me to sort out what I am actually depending upon:

1.) Am I doing something “for God” before I’m talking “with God” about the situation?

How often WE force a conversation about Christ with someone because WE want to make them a convert to Christianity!

How often WE launch out on our own to do something important for God because WE want to make a difference in God’s kingdom!

If you are reflective for a moment, you might discover that you oddly didn’t even bother to pray about it! That’s a common giveaway or self-reliance not Spirit-reliance!

2.) Am I surrendered to how God might want to work in the situation—even if it isn’t how I want Him to work?

Open hands that are surrendered to God show that I will trust him no matter what the outcome. "Not my will, but your will be done!”

God is incredibly pleased with surrendered hearts which demonstrate that we are reliant upon Him!

TS: So we can be encouraged… the same Spirit that transformed these scared disciples is the same Spirit that indwells every believer by faith! But there is more encouragement in this passage as well...

III. Jesus Gives Us a Clear Mission to Follow.

The disciples asked Jesus a rather interesting question in v. 6:

Acts 1:6 ESV

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

The disciples were right to think that Jesus’ kingdom will one day be upon this earth (during the 1000 year reign of Christ). But they were wrong to expect it immediately. And they were wrong to speculate about it endlessly.

So Jesus in effect says, “Don’t speculate about it…get to work on the mission that I’m sending you on!”

That’s a good warning for us, as well…

During the last year with COVID and “unprecedented times,” I don’t know how many times I heard people speculating about it being the end!

But is it really the end? “Well, we’ve certainly never had a worldwide pandemic before”…wait a minute “Well, the times are certainly evil like they’ve never been before”…are you sure about that?

These are “unprecedented times” and there are some interesting things going on in the world. BUT… whether or not this is the end or the coming of Christ is within my lifetime, no one knows!

Jesus squelches speculation about “the times” and tells them to get on with the mission!

We don’t ever really see the apostle’s getting into speculations about when Christ will return anywhere in the Acts. But we do see them living on mission!

And what is that mission?

Acts 1:8 (ESV)

...and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

This verse forms a geographical outline for the entire book of Acts:

Throwing a stone in the pond creates ripples that keep moving further and further out. Likewise, the gospel keeps moving further and further out from Jerusalem. (1) Jerusalem, (2) Judea, (3) Samaria, and (4) ends of the earth.

By the end of Acts we see Paul in Rome—the center of the empire—where the good news of Christ was still being proclaimed and spreading!

"Ends of the earth” could just mean throughout the Roman Empire. If so… mission accomplished!

But it likely refers to the literal ends of the earth. If so… we’re close! The number of tribes who are yet to have a gospel witness in them is shrinking each year!

Jesus’ disciples are to be Jesus’ witnesses.

μάρτυς (martyr) can mean someone who speaks to what they have seen and heard—sometimes even being killed for refusing to renounce that testimony!

All of us are to be “witnesses” for Christ—either good witnesses or bad witnesses!

And in the 2000 years of the church’s existence, nothing has changed what we are all about!

Not all of us have the gifting of an evangelist (a “soul-winner”). But all of us are called to be a witness for Christ.

The apostle’s witness was unique in that they were eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ. But our witness still testifies to how Christ redeemed and is transforming our lives!

Some of the most powerful witnesses for Christ are also some of the most simple!

E. Stanley Jones was an American Missionary to India back in the early to mid 1900’s. He wondered whether to be a lawyer or a missionary. Eventually, he decided to be “God’s lawyer.”

As he was training to be a pastor, it was time for his first sermon. Many of his relatives came to hear him preach at his home church. But after six sentences he made a mistake! He used the nonexistent word, “indifferentism.” Then he saw the smirk of a young lady in the pews and his mind went blank! After a long silence, he apologized that he had forgotten his sermon and went to sit down.

But as he was going to sit down, the Lord laid upon his heart a question: “Haven’t I done anything for you? Couldn’t you tell them that?” So he turned around and said, “Friends, as you can see, I can’t preach, but you know my life before and after conversion. And while I can’t preach, I do love the Lord, and I will witness for him the balance of my days.” Jones said that he then said “a few more things like that to fill in the awful blank.”

After the service, a young man came up to him and said, “I want to find out what you have found.”

We’re all witnesses for Christ who may or may not be able to preach.

But we can be witnesses of the risen Christ who has redeemed us!

When Jesus gave them this mission, he was giving them—and his church—the marching orders (v. 2) for what we are called to be and do!

Conclusion

So here we have some encouragement for fearful disciples from Jesus:

Jesus is still at work in the world.

Jesus sends his Spirit to empower us.

Jesus gives us a clear mission to follow.

Be encouraged… God’s work in the world is an unstoppable force!

I am not sure that they totally understood the encouragement when Jesus ascended into heaven.

They kept gazing into the sky while the glory-cloud of God’s presence hid him from their sight.

Two angels in white came to them to get them going on the mission. In essence they said, “Quit staring into the sky! He will come back one day in the same way you just saw him go. So get on with the mission!”

I don’t know what’s ahead in our world for Christians.

Revival or darkness. Easy days or persecution. But no matter what, Jesus isn’t calling us to retreat or to hide under cover.

Jesus is calling us to be his faithful witnesses as he he continues to work in the world as an unstoppable force. And until that day, may we be encouraged to be faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ for the sake of his mission in the world.